FROM THE BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF THE SUPERVILLAINY SAGA:Peter Stone is a poor black vampire who is wondering where his nightclub, mansion, and sports car are. Instead, he is working a minimum wage job during the night shift as being a vampire isn’t all that impressive in a world where they’ve come out to mortals. Exiled from the rich and powerful undead in New Detroit, he is forced to go back when … go back when someone dumps a newly-transformed vampire in the bathroom of his gas station’s store. This gets him fangs-deep in a plot of vampire hunters, supernatural revolutionaries, and a millennium-old French knight determined to wipe out the supernatural.
Sometimes, it just doesn’t pay to get out of the coffin.
Set in the same world as The Bright Falls Mysteries.
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”Straight Outta Fangton is a wonderful mix of urban fantasy, dark comedy and scary vampires. It reads very much like a thriller and whose pace will have you flipping pages as fast as you can. Charles Phipps is an author who is revealing himself to be a master of many genres as he continues to thrill and amaze.” -The Fantasy Book Critic
“I love a good vampire story. When that story is wrapped up in clever, comedic writing, the ride is an enjoyable one. Charles Phipps can weave a tale with believable characters that have distinctive personalities filled with charm and wit.” -Briar Lee Mitchell, The Whistlebrass Horror
“C.T. Phipps created a not just a fun story, but a fun world ripe for expansion and exploration.” -Michael Gibson, Villains Rule
“Not only is it a funny book, but it’s a creepy vampire story, a kick-ass action novel, and an intriguing urban fantasy at the same time.” – Beauty in Ruins
“Full of fascinating characters and laughs.” – James Alderdice, Brutal: An Epic Grimdark Fantasy
“I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is into urban fantasy or likes a good supernatural romp.” – The Bookwyrm Speaks
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Straight Outta Fangton (A Comedic Vampire Story) by C. T. Phipps and narrated by Cary Hite is another entertaining story by C. T. Phipps. Not sure what I can say others haven’t…if you enjoy comedy mixed with a bit of seriousness and hella pop-culture references, this is the book for you. If you still aren’t sure if you should be listening, the answer is yes. The narrator, Cary Hite, brought Peter to live perfectly. It was a little slow to get to the story/action rolling, but once it picked up, I didn’t want to put it down, so if you are feeling the same at the beginning, stick with it. And thanks Charles, I have Alicia Bridges stuck in my head now.
“That’s one of the things you’ll hate about growing old. You’ll develop a massive number of pop culture references no one else will get.”
“Don’t quote True Blood at me.”
“I don’t blame her, since there was presently a naked goblin walking down the street beside us, spouting beat poetry.”
Parental guidance/trigger warnings: There’s death, swearing, or other like content. Mentions of the Iraq war or service. Mentions of rape (question of if hypnosis is rape, someone found guilty of rape of a 17 y.o.). Language used: Fx26, Sx56.
This was a fun tale and new take on Detroit vampires. Definitely no cliched Detroit vamps in this story! This is definitely a comedy with plenty of sarcasm and snark. There’s also plenty of pop culture references, which usually added to the fun but sometimes I found a little too much. Just my personal taste there.
Peter Stone is a decent fellow who gets caught up in bigger, badder things. A vampire hunter who’s been turned into a vampire (Melissa) turns up in his life and the two reluctantly join forces to save the vampire nation of New Detroit from a self- hating vamp. Yep, all sorts of vamps in this story. Not everyone wants to be undead, even if the undead now have voting rights, can get night jobs, and have to pay taxes.
One aspect I really liked about this story was part of the set up. The vamps have been carefully working behind the scenes to make vampires palatable to humans through media. There’s the books, the movies, the plush toys, and the bobble heads. After a hundred or so years, the idea of friendly vampires isn’t all that odd to humans.
David (Peter’s thrall), Melissa, and Peter all have lively banter between them. I really liked that some of the joking was centered around bigotry. There’s so many anti-vampers out there (and Melissa used to be one). It reminded me a little of how True Blood used the anti-vamper hate talk to mirror real world hate talk. It was well done, often eliciting a laugh even as the story takes a jab at bigotry in general.
Part of the tale involves solving a murder and for that, Peter needs to involve his master, Thoth. While Peter is in charge around David and Melissa, he has to rein it in and be a little subservient to Thoth. It was nice to see that Peter has this flexibility and also situational awareness. This bodes well for how the character will grow with the series.
Then in steps Renaud, a former French Templar. He’s the Big Baddie of the tale and it’s going to take everything our heroes have to survive. I did find the second half of the tale more fun than the first half. There’s more action. All told, the story could have used a little more world building and little less pop culture. All told, 4/5 stars.
The Narration: Cary Hite gave a really good performance to this story. He had a great voice for Peter stone and his female voices were believable. I enjoyed his voice for Thoth and for Renaud as well. All character voices were distinct. There were no technical issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.
I liked the way vampires were presented in this book.
A little bit funny, and a little bit dark, but a good mix between the two.
Straight Outta Fangton by C.T. Phipps is an unusual vampire story. It is fun, full of action, a strange world of vamps and weres with humans, and quite a different look at vampire life. Never boring. I was given this book to read and the review was voluntary.
Okay, I admit it: I’m a sucker for a good C.T. Phipps tale. Normally, I only read horror at this time of year, but as this one’s about vampires I thought, “Why not?” Actually, it ties in with at least one other book by this author, I Was A Teenage Weredeer, and imagines a near future in which fantastical creatures of all sorts have come out of hiding into society and subsequently deal with lots of prejudice (much of it earned). Vampires, for instance, largely run New Detroit, and, in this novel, they’re being stalked and eliminated by an Uber Crusader with a demonic sword. It’s kind of like The Vampire LeStat meets Blade, but with jokes. Lots of jokes. And sex. And violence. And more jokes. Perfect for Halloween reading, in other words. If you’ve read Phipps’ other books, you have to read this one. If this is your first, it’s a great place to start.
It was a little too smug; like a comic laughing at their own jokes. To be fair, I’ve read hundreds of vampire books and stories, so it’s hard for a vampire novel to impress me. And I routinely read Timothy Dorsey, Terry Pratchett, Laurence Shames, Janet Evanovich, Tom Holt, and Carl Hiaasen – some of the top names in humorous genre fiction, so, again, it can sometimes be hard to impress me.